The Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus
when the office of taster had its perils, and was not a grandeur to be desired. Why they did not use a dog or a plumber seems strange; but all the ways of royalty are strange. My Lord d"Arcy, First Groom of the Chamber, was there, to do goodness knows what; but there he was-let that suffice. The Lord Chief Butler was there, and stood behind Tom's chair overseeing the solemnities, under command of the Lord Great Steward and the Lord Head Cook
The Birth of Venus
who stood near. Tom had three hundred and eighty-four servants besides these; but they were not all in that room, of course, nor the quarter of them; neither was Tom aware yet that they existed.
All those that were present had been well drilled within the hour to remember that the prince was temporarily out of his head
The Birth of Venus